Question of the Day

Should President Trump end 'chain migration?'

Story TOpics

NEW YORK — A member of a publicity-seeking hacker group that sabotaged websites in the past two months and is dissolving itself says his group isn’t disbanding under pressure from the FBI or enemy hackers.

“We’re not quitting because we’re afraid of law enforcement,” the LulzSec member said in a conversation with The Associated Press over the Internet voice program Skype. “The press are getting bored of us, and we’re getting bored of us.”

The group’s hacking has included attacks on law enforcement and releases of private data. It said unexpectedly on Saturday it was dissolving itself.

In the Sunday interview, the hacker acknowledged that some of the material being circulated by rivals online — which purports to reveal the hackers’ online nicknames, past histories, and chat logs — was genuine, something he said had proved to be “a distraction.”

He added that three or four of Lulz Security’s members were taking what he called “a breather” and said he was considering giving up cyberattacks altogether.

“Maybe I’ll stop this hacking thing entirely. I haven’t decided,” he said. He said he couldn’t speak for the others’ long-term plans, but said it was possible some of the members would continue to be involved with Anonymous, the much larger and more amorphous hacking group which has targeted the Church of Scientology, Middle Eastern dictatorships and the music industry, among others.

He said the six-member group was still sitting on a considerable amount of stolen law enforcement files.

Although the hacker declined to identify himself publicly, he has verified his membership with Lulz Security by posting a pre-arranged message to the group’s popular Twitter feed.

Lulz Security made its Saturday announcement about disbanding through its Twitter account. That statement gave no reason for the disbandment.

Kevin Mitnick, a security consultant and former hacker, said the group probably had concluded that the more they kept up their activities, the greater the chance that one of them would make some mistake that would enable authorities to catch them. They’ve inspired copycat groups around the globe.

“They can sit back and watch the mayhem and not risk being captured,” Mr. Mitnick said.